I mean it was Gabriel Pogrund who broke the stories, inter alia, on the Lord Alii donations and the story that led to Angela Rayner resigning.
This is the sort of witless take that really pees me off
Sneering at politicians fine
Demonising voters for daring to vote how you don’t want them to is pathetic. A quarter of the uk supports Reform.
Looking down your nose at people not like you is deeply unpleasant
If politics worked for many communities they’d not vote Reform
Would you prefer I called them 'mugs'?
Anyhoo, I look down on people I like too.
So what
Call them what you like I’ll call it out. They’re not mugs, dupes, fools or idiots voting against their self interest in spite of what privileged middle class centrist say and demonising voters parties want to win back won’t exactly do the job
But it will get a like from Roger 👍
What about the 'mugs' who bought Trump's crypto?
Go back to baiting Casino. They’re not comparable. A commercial transaction is different to voting for a party based on policy pledges
Unless they have managed to bend the rules of physics, something that size can never work.
The obvious way for that faux aircon fan to bend the rules of physics would be to pre-chill the water.
The one thing I’ve learned in my life is never to pay any attention to what the physicists say – Linus Pauling
The original attempts at artificial cooling for rooms involved things like a block of ice. Later they added mechanical fans to blow water over the ice. This evolved into modern aircon.
But as we saw with Lady Donaldson you can be an unconvicted criminal.
Former DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has been found guilty of 18 child sex abuse charges, including one count of rape.
A trial of the facts is an option that is open to prosecutors if a court determines that a person is unfit to stand trial and criminal proceedings cannot go ahead.
It takes the place of a criminal trial and is used to determine whether an accused committed the acts alleged.
It cannot result in a conviction, but if the court is not satisfied that the accused committed the acts alleged, then he/she will be acquitted.
The procedure is allowed for in legislation by Article 49A of the Mental Health (Northern Ireland) Order 1986.
The mechanism is not used often but one high-profile example was in the trial of former IRA leader Ivor Bell in 2019.
Surely if you commit a crime, you are by definition a criminal, regardless of whether on not you are convicted?
The point about being a convicted criminal is that you can reliably be treated as one by the public at large, because your crimes were (hopefully) proven in court.
Fifa's Code of Ethics, external has restrictions on offering and accepting gifts, with article 21 stating that such gifts can only be offered or accepted if they "have symbolic or trivial value".
Reform's Mayoral candidate Sian Astley was featured on an old episode of Property Ladder, which charts her rise from first-time solo renovator to BTL empress. She's a quarrelsome customer, frequently disagreeing with Sarah Beeney, but ultimately emerges as a successful risk-taker.
I am glad Reform didn't waste her on Makerfield. I don't think she'll win the Manchester Mayoralty, but I do think she is probably the best candidate Reform could have selected.
Building up a BTL empire in a time of low interest rates and rising prices doesn't shout 'risk-taking entrepreneur creating value for themselves and the wider community'.
Although tbf it does indicate a good head for money and an ability to organise and negotiate.
She got lucky on her first one because the market rose considerably. But the rest took some balls. I think actually Manchester would be quite well advised to vote for her. An entrepreneurial Mayor like Houchen. Only so far implementing a bus service can take you. But as I've said, I don't think the electoral maths stack up for Reform in Manchester.
Unless they have managed to bend the rules of physics, something that size can never work.
The obvious way for that faux aircon fan to bend the rules of physics would be to pre-chill the water.
The one thing I’ve learned in my life is never to pay any attention to what the physicists say – Linus Pauling
In a theoretical world, if you evaporate the water, there is potentially quite a lot of cooling available, via the latent heat of vaporisation (this is how big industrial cooling towers work, I used to install them in a previous life).
The downside is that you'll massively raise the humidity, and as the water condenses out again the heat will be returned to the air.
The net effect would be terrible, but but you could have a device which did chuck out a load of cold but very humid air via this process.
Unless they have managed to bend the rules of physics, something that size can never work.
The obvious way for that faux aircon fan to bend the rules of physics would be to pre-chill the water.
The one thing I’ve learned in my life is never to pay any attention to what the physicists say – Linus Pauling
In a theoretical world, if you evaporate the water, there is potentially quite a lot of cooling available, via the latent heat of vaporisation (this is how big industrial cooling towers work, I used to install them in a previous life).
The downside is that you'll massively raise the humidity, and as the water condenses out again the heat will be returned to the air.
The net effect would be terrible, but but you could have a device which did chuck out a load of cold but very humid air via this process.
The trick would be to have a time machine - send the warm air into the winter of your home and the cool air back. I'm amazed nobody has done this.
Unless they have managed to bend the rules of physics, something that size can never work.
The obvious way for that faux aircon fan to bend the rules of physics would be to pre-chill the water.
The one thing I’ve learned in my life is never to pay any attention to what the physicists say – Linus Pauling
In a theoretical world, if you evaporate the water, there is potentially quite a lot of cooling available, via the latent heat of vaporisation (this is how big industrial cooling towers work, I used to install them in a previous life).
The downside is that you'll massively raise the humidity, and as the water condenses out again the heat will be returned to the air.
The net effect would be terrible, but but you could have a device which did chuck out a load of cold but very humid air via this process.
The trick would be to have a time machine - send the warm air into the winter of your home and the cool air back. I'm amazed nobody has done this.
(Physicist here- ignore Linus Pauling)
Isn't that kind of what ground source heat pumps do?
Unless they have managed to bend the rules of physics, something that size can never work.
The obvious way for that faux aircon fan to bend the rules of physics would be to pre-chill the water.
The one thing I’ve learned in my life is never to pay any attention to what the physicists say – Linus Pauling
In a theoretical world, if you evaporate the water, there is potentially quite a lot of cooling available, via the latent heat of vaporisation (this is how big industrial cooling towers work, I used to install them in a previous life).
The downside is that you'll massively raise the humidity, and as the water condenses out again the heat will be returned to the air.
The net effect would be terrible, but but you could have a device which did chuck out a load of cold but very humid air via this process.
The trick would be to have a time machine - send the warm air into the winter of your home and the cool air back. I'm amazed nobody has done this.
(Physicist here- ignore Linus Pauling)
Isn't that kind of what ground source heat pumps do?
Appauling your disregard of Pauling. And yes and no.
But as we saw with Lady Donaldson you can be an unconvicted criminal.
Former DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has been found guilty of 18 child sex abuse charges, including one count of rape.
A trial of the facts is an option that is open to prosecutors if a court determines that a person is unfit to stand trial and criminal proceedings cannot go ahead.
It takes the place of a criminal trial and is used to determine whether an accused committed the acts alleged.
It cannot result in a conviction, but if the court is not satisfied that the accused committed the acts alleged, then he/she will be acquitted.
The procedure is allowed for in legislation by Article 49A of the Mental Health (Northern Ireland) Order 1986.
The mechanism is not used often but one high-profile example was in the trial of former IRA leader Ivor Bell in 2019.
Surely if you commit a crime, you are by definition a criminal, regardless of whether on not you are convicted?
The point about being a convicted criminal is that you can reliably be treated as one by the public at large, because your crimes were (hopefully) proven in court.
I think so. Cottrell was convicted of wire fraud. He entered into a plea bargain with the prosecution to drop money laundering charges. It doesn't mean he was innocent but the fact of the plea bargain suggests Cottrell had a good chance of conviction, but not a certain one.
The really interesting thing there is that the Greens have lost about half of the Polanski Peak; down from about 16% in late April to about 12% now.
One thing we can all agree on is the biggest loser from a Burnham Premiership is Polanski and the Greens as many of their voters return to Labour as Labour shifts back left again
Certainly that's what's kept me in Labour instead of switching to the Greens as I was minded to, though I don't expect anything very radical from Andy - a general shift in direction will do me. I imagine that a chunk of the Labour vote is similar.
Some but some will be on the other wing and have voted Conservative from 2010 to 2019 or voted LD in 2019, voted for Starmer in 2024 as he was more centrist after Corbyn but might swing back to Tory or LD if Burnham goes too leftwing
Imagine that, various US gov officials including Rubio pile on saying it’s a disgrace that Balogun misses a match due to getting carded in the last match and then FIFA reverse the one game ban.
I really wish UEFA could tell FIFA to FO and refuse to enter the World Cup from now on. They could make it financially worthwhile for South America to join their tournaments and pull the rug from under FIFa who need to be shown that it’s not “their game” to ruin.
Unless they have managed to bend the rules of physics, something that size can never work.
The obvious way for that faux aircon fan to bend the rules of physics would be to pre-chill the water.
The one thing I’ve learned in my life is never to pay any attention to what the physicists say – Linus Pauling
In a theoretical world, if you evaporate the water, there is potentially quite a lot of cooling available, via the latent heat of vaporisation (this is how big industrial cooling towers work, I used to install them in a previous life).
The downside is that you'll massively raise the humidity, and as the water condenses out again the heat will be returned to the air.
The net effect would be terrible, but but you could have a device which did chuck out a load of cold but very humid air via this process.
The trick would be to have a time machine - send the warm air into the winter of your home and the cool air back. I'm amazed nobody has done this.
(Physicist here- ignore Linus Pauling)
Isn't that kind of what ground source heat pumps do?
Appauling your disregard of Pauling. And yes and no.
I looked Pauling up on wiki. Apparently he's the only person to have won two unshared Nobel prizes. Hat in the ring!
Any England fan who doesn’t stay up to watch the England game live tonight, is not an actual fan and should be banned from ever posting about football again.
Off to bed at 10 and set the alarm for 00:45. Two or three hours of torture, then back to bed.
bbc2 are showing.a full replay at 710am. Going to watch it as live then and not look at internet . Problem with stying up is there could be storm delay or if it goes to extra timethat would be 330am
I suspect George Cottrell is about to become for Nigel Farage what Peter Mandelson was for Keir Starmer. There are too many different angles to the story for Farage to be able to effectively shut it down. There’s no way of drawing a line.
If you search George Cottrell on PB we were discussing his dodginess and links with Farage back in 2024.
Good afternoon
The onslaught on Farage by the media is a joy to behold, but if he survives this then teflon Nigel doesn't come near
Conspiracy theorists might note this comes at the same time as the Conservative Party establishment is throwing its weight behind Kemi, with reports of Boris and JRM joining the Cameron-led fan club in recent days. Not that conspiracy theorists would be attracted to Reform!
Any England fan who doesn’t stay up to watch the England game live tonight, is not an actual fan and should be banned from ever posting about football again.
Off to bed at 10 and set the alarm for 00:45. Two or three hours of torture, then back to bed.
bbc2 are showing.a full replay at 710am. Going to watch it as live then and not look at internet . Problem with stying up is there could be storm delay or if it goes to extra timethat would be 330am
Not an option for me as will be getting on the road at that time to head to work, so staying up is the only real option - and copious amounts of coffee tomorrow.
Unless they have managed to bend the rules of physics, something that size can never work.
The obvious way for that faux aircon fan to bend the rules of physics would be to pre-chill the water.
The one thing I’ve learned in my life is never to pay any attention to what the physicists say – Linus Pauling
In a theoretical world, if you evaporate the water, there is potentially quite a lot of cooling available, via the latent heat of vaporisation (this is how big industrial cooling towers work, I used to install them in a previous life).
The downside is that you'll massively raise the humidity, and as the water condenses out again the heat will be returned to the air.
The net effect would be terrible, but but you could have a device which did chuck out a load of cold but very humid air via this process.
The trick would be to have a time machine - send the warm air into the winter of your home and the cool air back. I'm amazed nobody has done this.
(Physicist here- ignore Linus Pauling)
Isn't that kind of what ground source heat pumps do?
Appauling your disregard of Pauling. And yes and no.
I looked Pauling up on wiki. Apparently he's the only person to have won two unshared Nobel prizes. Hat in the ring!
It should have been three Nobel prizes, or at least could have been. The FBI stopped Pauling travelling to Europe over his communist sympathies; he had been due to attend a conference where Rosalind Franklin discussed her crystallography results, and some think Pauling would have gone from there to the helical structure of DNA before Watson & Crick.
Convicted non criminal: Malkinson Unconvicted criminal: Loads of them. Some in extremely high places. I am sure each reader can supply a name or names, but please don't offer them here. The London firms of solicitors who only do privately paid criminal work have a living to make, but not, I suggest, from suing PB.
Reform's Mayoral candidate Sian Astley was featured on an old episode of Property Ladder, which charts her rise from first-time solo renovator to BTL empress. She's a quarrelsome customer, frequently disagreeing with Sarah Beeney, but ultimately emerges as a successful risk-taker.
I am glad Reform didn't waste her on Makerfield. I don't think she'll win the Manchester Mayoralty, but I do think she is probably the best candidate Reform could have selected.
Building up a BTL empire in a time of low interest rates and rising prices doesn't shout 'risk-taking entrepreneur creating value for themselves and the wider community'.
Although tbf it does indicate a good head for money and an ability to organise and negotiate.
She got lucky on her first one because the market rose considerably. But the rest took some balls. I think actually Manchester would be quite well advised to vote for her. An entrepreneurial Mayor like Houchen. Only so far implementing a bus service can take you. But as I've said, I don't think the electoral maths stack up for Reform in Manchester.
Doesn't it take you all the way to Downing St?
But no, not for me. BTL isn't the sort of business I gaze at with admiration and approval etched across my face. In fact if you look carefully you might be able to detect the hint of a scowl.
But as we saw with Lady Donaldson you can be an unconvicted criminal.
Former DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has been found guilty of 18 child sex abuse charges, including one count of rape.
A trial of the facts is an option that is open to prosecutors if a court determines that a person is unfit to stand trial and criminal proceedings cannot go ahead.
It takes the place of a criminal trial and is used to determine whether an accused committed the acts alleged.
It cannot result in a conviction, but if the court is not satisfied that the accused committed the acts alleged, then he/she will be acquitted.
The procedure is allowed for in legislation by Article 49A of the Mental Health (Northern Ireland) Order 1986.
The mechanism is not used often but one high-profile example was in the trial of former IRA leader Ivor Bell in 2019.
Surely if you commit a crime, you are by definition a criminal, regardless of whether on not you are convicted?
The point about being a convicted criminal is that you can reliably be treated as one by the public at large, because your crimes were (hopefully) proven in court.
I think so. Cottrell was convicted of wire fraud. He entered into a plea bargain with the prosecution to drop money laundering charges. It doesn't mean he was innocent but the fact of the plea bargain suggests Cottrell had a good chance of conviction, but not a certain one.
My excuse for posting one of Wiki's most sublime sentences, the subject being Cottrell, and showing that there is good in all men:
Cottrell was raised and educated on the private island of Mustique, before attending Malvern College, from which he was expelled for illegal gambling.
Texas is a fairly large state, so it should not surprise anyone that its climate varies from place to place:
Texas' weather varies widely, from arid in the west to humid in the east. The huge expanse of Texas encompasses several regions with distinctly different climates: Northern Plains, Trans-Pecos Region, Texas Hill Country, Piney Woods, and South Texas. Generally speaking, the eastern half of the state is humid subtropical, while the western half is largely semi-arid (except arid in the far west). This is because the North American Cordillera tends to block east-west winds, meaning north-south winds are common in eastern Texas and draw moist air off the Gulf of Mexico.
When George H. W. Bush move to Texas, he settled in Midland. The family used a "swamp cooler", which would make sense for that time and place. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midland,_Texas
Burnham is certainly already looking at wealth taxes which don't come in the no income or NI tax rises pledge in the Labour manifesto. He would certainly like to increase the additional rate of income tax back up to 50% but may need a Labour manifesto commitment and general election win for that.
''Andy Burnham is set to launch a financial raid on swathes of middle–class homeowners by dragging them into the punitive 'mansion tax' regime, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
Plans to lower the threshold for the extra levy to include homes worth £1.5million would mean more than 150,000 families – particularly in the South of England – being hit with four–figure tax hikes.
It could prove a double whammy for homeowners in the region, as Mr Burnham is also considering replacing council tax with a system based on land values likely to leave people living in the South paying up to three times as much as those in the North, where property is generally cheaper.Sources told this newspaper that Mr Burnham is considering lowering the threshold for Chancellor Rachel Reeves's so–called mansion tax – due to hit in April 2028 – from £2 million to £1.5 million.
In parts of London, a relatively modest four–bedroomed terraced house would fall above that threshold.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch attacked the plans as another example of Labour's 'politics of envy'.
It comes as the prime minister–in–waiting faces increasing pressure from backbenchers and unions to levy 'wealth taxes' on the middle classes to cover the spiralling cost of welfare and public services.'
Andy Burnham has both been supremely entitled about his journey to power, and entirely unwilling to open himself up to scrutiny.
He said in his speech last week that his overarching political direction is "not up for negotiation", and then refused to take any questions from journalists.
We are now 2 weeks away from having a PM imposed on us who has no mandate, no clear policies, no clear cabinet, no challengers, and has allowed no questions, but will claim his vision is law and won't call an election. His response to anyone who criticises him is to be cold-shouldered or quietly threatened by 'friends of' or 'sources close to Andy Burnham'. Briefings I haven't seen since the Brown years.
That's not the behaviour of a democrat, nor of someone who's not going to come unstuck very quickly.
I do not know if Burnham will be very good, but almost the whole of this diatribe is distorted, irrelevant or untrue.
A couple of real facts:
Government is led by the person who has the confidence of 325+ members of the House. How they fix that, as long as it is not corrupt, is a matter for the 650 people we elected for a 5 year term. No-one can impose on 325 MPs.
No mandate is required. We don't elect mandated delegates, we elect accountable representatives.
No-one can become Labour leader, and thus PM in this case, without an open nomination process in which up to about five candidates are possible. If there were only one candidate, that tells you something about the opinions of 400 elected Labour MPs.
You produce no evidence that he uses threats, and I won't accept it without it.
You're a traitor.
Even if I were, and I am not, the argument is still ad hominem.
Reform's Mayoral candidate Sian Astley was featured on an old episode of Property Ladder, which charts her rise from first-time solo renovator to BTL empress. She's a quarrelsome customer, frequently disagreeing with Sarah Beeney, but ultimately emerges as a successful risk-taker.
I am glad Reform didn't waste her on Makerfield. I don't think she'll win the Manchester Mayoralty, but I do think she is probably the best candidate Reform could have selected.
Building up a BTL empire in a time of low interest rates and rising prices doesn't shout 'risk-taking entrepreneur creating value for themselves and the wider community'.
Although tbf it does indicate a good head for money and an ability to organise and negotiate.
She got lucky on her first one because the market rose considerably. But the rest took some balls. I think actually Manchester would be quite well advised to vote for her. An entrepreneurial Mayor like Houchen. Only so far implementing a bus service can take you. But as I've said, I don't think the electoral maths stack up for Reform in Manchester.
If by "entrepreneurial" you mean throwing large sums of public money at private companies with no transparency, accountability, business plan or apparent return on investment of any kind, I agree, Houchen is indeed entrepreneurial.
Reform's Mayoral candidate Sian Astley was featured on an old episode of Property Ladder, which charts her rise from first-time solo renovator to BTL empress. She's a quarrelsome customer, frequently disagreeing with Sarah Beeney, but ultimately emerges as a successful risk-taker.
I am glad Reform didn't waste her on Makerfield. I don't think she'll win the Manchester Mayoralty, but I do think she is probably the best candidate Reform could have selected.
Building up a BTL empire in a time of low interest rates and rising prices doesn't shout 'risk-taking entrepreneur creating value for themselves and the wider community'.
Although tbf it does indicate a good head for money and an ability to organise and negotiate.
She got lucky on her first one because the market rose considerably. But the rest took some balls. I think actually Manchester would be quite well advised to vote for her. An entrepreneurial Mayor like Houchen. Only so far implementing a bus service can take you. But as I've said, I don't think the electoral maths stack up for Reform in Manchester.
If by "entrepreneurial" you mean throwing large sums of public money at private companies with no transparency, accountability, business plan or apparent return on investment of any kind, I agree, Houchen is indeed entrepreneurial.
There has been a significant return for the people who now own 90% of Teesworks - about half a billion so far...
FIFA's official Azteca forecast: 90% risk of lightning storms around kick-off. Under FIFA protocol, lightning within 6 miles = no kick-off until a 30-minute lightning-free window.
But as we saw with Lady Donaldson you can be an unconvicted criminal.
Former DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has been found guilty of 18 child sex abuse charges, including one count of rape.
A trial of the facts is an option that is open to prosecutors if a court determines that a person is unfit to stand trial and criminal proceedings cannot go ahead.
It takes the place of a criminal trial and is used to determine whether an accused committed the acts alleged.
It cannot result in a conviction, but if the court is not satisfied that the accused committed the acts alleged, then he/she will be acquitted.
The procedure is allowed for in legislation by Article 49A of the Mental Health (Northern Ireland) Order 1986.
The mechanism is not used often but one high-profile example was in the trial of former IRA leader Ivor Bell in 2019.
Surely if you commit a crime, you are by definition a criminal, regardless of whether on not you are convicted?
The point about being a convicted criminal is that you can reliably be treated as one by the public at large, because your crimes were (hopefully) proven in court.
Philosophically if you break a law which is immoral and unjust doesn’t that make you a law-breaker not a criminal?
FIFA's official Azteca forecast: 90% risk of lightning storms around kick-off. Under FIFA protocol, lightning within 6 miles = no kick-off until a 30-minute lightning-free window.
Late night ahead....
Maybe BBC2’s 7.10am programme will be showing the match live!
Reform's Mayoral candidate Sian Astley was featured on an old episode of Property Ladder, which charts her rise from first-time solo renovator to BTL empress. She's a quarrelsome customer, frequently disagreeing with Sarah Beeney, but ultimately emerges as a successful risk-taker.
I am glad Reform didn't waste her on Makerfield. I don't think she'll win the Manchester Mayoralty, but I do think she is probably the best candidate Reform could have selected.
Building up a BTL empire in a time of low interest rates and rising prices doesn't shout 'risk-taking entrepreneur creating value for themselves and the wider community'.
Although tbf it does indicate a good head for money and an ability to organise and negotiate.
She got lucky on her first one because the market rose considerably. But the rest took some balls. I think actually Manchester would be quite well advised to vote for her. An entrepreneurial Mayor like Houchen. Only so far implementing a bus service can take you. But as I've said, I don't think the electoral maths stack up for Reform in Manchester.
If by "entrepreneurial" you mean throwing large sums of public money at private companies with no transparency, accountability, business plan or apparent return on investment of any kind, I agree, Houchen is indeed entrepreneurial.
There has been a significant return for the people who now own 90% of Teesworks - about half a billion so far...
The papers will be looking at Manchester now to check how far Burnham's miracle was simply funnelling money from George Osborne to one particular developer, Renaker. Here's the local rag from a couple of weeks ago:-
The court battle over £1billion and how Manchester missed out on affordable housing It could have major implications for Andy Burnham's office and Manchester's biggest developer
It’s a simple fact that Renaker has shaped Manchester’s skyline.
Great Jackson Street, next to Mancunian Way, is home to seven Renaker-built skyscrapers, and five more have planning permission. Four more are eyed for Trinity Islands, next to Regent Road.
But how Renaker managed to shape the city is now subject to an ongoing legal battle.
Andy Burnham has been accused of loaning hundreds of millions of pounds to the developer amid claims his office holds a 'cosy relationship' with its owner, Daren Whitaker.
His firm has received £615m from the Greater Manchester Housing Investment Loans Fund (GMHILF). That's around half of the total lending from the fund set up in 2015 to finance housing projects.
FIFA's official Azteca forecast: 90% risk of lightning storms around kick-off. Under FIFA protocol, lightning within 6 miles = no kick-off until a 30-minute lightning-free window.
Late night ahead....
Maybe BBC2’s 7.10am programme will be showing the match live!
FIFA's official Azteca forecast: 90% risk of lightning storms around kick-off. Under FIFA protocol, lightning within 6 miles = no kick-off until a 30-minute lightning-free window.
Late night ahead....
Maybe BBC2’s 7.10am programme will be showing the match live!
The risk of delays beyond a 1 am start is the main reason I will probably not stay up. That and no expectation of victory.
Reform's Mayoral candidate Sian Astley was featured on an old episode of Property Ladder, which charts her rise from first-time solo renovator to BTL empress. She's a quarrelsome customer, frequently disagreeing with Sarah Beeney, but ultimately emerges as a successful risk-taker.
I am glad Reform didn't waste her on Makerfield. I don't think she'll win the Manchester Mayoralty, but I do think she is probably the best candidate Reform could have selected.
Building up a BTL empire in a time of low interest rates and rising prices doesn't shout 'risk-taking entrepreneur creating value for themselves and the wider community'.
Although tbf it does indicate a good head for money and an ability to organise and negotiate.
She got lucky on her first one because the market rose considerably. But the rest took some balls. I think actually Manchester would be quite well advised to vote for her. An entrepreneurial Mayor like Houchen. Only so far implementing a bus service can take you. But as I've said, I don't think the electoral maths stack up for Reform in Manchester.
If by "entrepreneurial" you mean throwing large sums of public money at private companies with no transparency, accountability, business plan or apparent return on investment of any kind, I agree, Houchen is indeed entrepreneurial.
Russian hackers have infiltrated the email accounts of UK government officials and overseas Foreign Office staff in a major national security breach. In the sophisticated and ongoing attack – nicknamed FortiBleed by researchers – hackers stole login credentials belonging to government staff, granting unauthorised access to sensitive systems and threatening further infiltration across Whitehall departments.
Convicted non criminal: Malkinson Unconvicted criminal: Loads of them. Some in extremely high places. I am sure each reader can supply a name or names, but please don't offer them here. The London firms of solicitors who only do privately paid criminal work have a living to make, but not, I suggest, from suing PB.
Tbh I'd lazily assumed Stone had already been cleared after it became fashionable to blame Levi Bellfield, although Bellfield refutes these allegations.
Burnham is certainly already looking at wealth taxes which don't come in the no income or NI tax rises pledge in the Labour manifesto. He would certainly like to increase the additional rate of income tax back up to 50% but may need a Labour manifesto commitment and general election win for that.
''Andy Burnham is set to launch a financial raid on swathes of middle–class homeowners by dragging them into the punitive 'mansion tax' regime, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
Plans to lower the threshold for the extra levy to include homes worth £1.5million would mean more than 150,000 families – particularly in the South of England – being hit with four–figure tax hikes.
It could prove a double whammy for homeowners in the region, as Mr Burnham is also considering replacing council tax with a system based on land values likely to leave people living in the South paying up to three times as much as those in the North, where property is generally cheaper.Sources told this newspaper that Mr Burnham is considering lowering the threshold for Chancellor Rachel Reeves's so–called mansion tax – due to hit in April 2028 – from £2 million to £1.5 million.
In parts of London, a relatively modest four–bedroomed terraced house would fall above that threshold.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch attacked the plans as another example of Labour's 'politics of envy'.
It comes as the prime minister–in–waiting faces increasing pressure from backbenchers and unions to levy 'wealth taxes' on the middle classes to cover the spiralling cost of welfare and public services.'
Andy Burnham has both been supremely entitled about his journey to power, and entirely unwilling to open himself up to scrutiny.
He said in his speech last week that his overarching political direction is "not up for negotiation", and then refused to take any questions from journalists.
We are now 2 weeks away from having a PM imposed on us who has no mandate, no clear policies, no clear cabinet, no challengers, and has allowed no questions, but will claim his vision is law and won't call an election. His response to anyone who criticises him is to be cold-shouldered or quietly threatened by 'friends of' or 'sources close to Andy Burnham'. Briefings I haven't seen since the Brown years.
That's not the behaviour of a democrat, nor of someone who's not going to come unstuck very quickly.
I do not know if Burnham will be very good, but almost the whole of this diatribe is distorted, irrelevant or untrue.
A couple of real facts:
Government is led by the person who has the confidence of 325+ members of the House. How they fix that, as long as it is not corrupt, is a matter for the 650 people we elected for a 5 year term. No-one can impose on 325 MPs.
No mandate is required. We don't elect mandated delegates, we elect accountable representatives.
No-one can become Labour leader, and thus PM in this case, without an open nomination process in which up to about five candidates are possible. If there were only one candidate, that tells you something about the opinions of 400 elected Labour MPs.
You produce no evidence that he uses threats, and I won't accept it without it.
You're a traitor.
Even if I were, and I am not, the argument is still ad hominem.
You insulted me and then questioned my integrity.
You're lucky I didn't compare you to William Joyce.
FIFA's official Azteca forecast: 90% risk of lightning storms around kick-off. Under FIFA protocol, lightning within 6 miles = no kick-off until a 30-minute lightning-free window.
Late night ahead....
Maybe BBC2’s 7.10am programme will be showing the match live!
FIFA's official Azteca forecast: 90% risk of lightning storms around kick-off. Under FIFA protocol, lightning within 6 miles = no kick-off until a 30-minute lightning-free window.
Late night ahead....
Maybe BBC2’s 7.10am programme will be showing the match live!
The risk of delays beyond a 1 am start is the main reason I will probably not stay up. That and no expectation of victory.
My plan is quite simple: - Go to bed at 10pm for 3 hours - Check phone to see if match starting, or else go back to sleep - Repeat every hour - Watch match - Somehow survive work the next day
But as we saw with Lady Donaldson you can be an unconvicted criminal.
Former DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has been found guilty of 18 child sex abuse charges, including one count of rape.
A trial of the facts is an option that is open to prosecutors if a court determines that a person is unfit to stand trial and criminal proceedings cannot go ahead.
It takes the place of a criminal trial and is used to determine whether an accused committed the acts alleged.
It cannot result in a conviction, but if the court is not satisfied that the accused committed the acts alleged, then he/she will be acquitted.
The procedure is allowed for in legislation by Article 49A of the Mental Health (Northern Ireland) Order 1986.
The mechanism is not used often but one high-profile example was in the trial of former IRA leader Ivor Bell in 2019.
Surely if you commit a crime, you are by definition a criminal, regardless of whether on not you are convicted?
The point about being a convicted criminal is that you can reliably be treated as one by the public at large, because your crimes were (hopefully) proven in court.
Philosophically if you break a law which is immoral and unjust doesn’t that make you a law-breaker not a criminal?
Philosophically you would have to ensure that the concepts underlying your words are first of all clarified so that it is possible to draw a distinction between a law-breaker and a criminal, as it is perfectly sane to assume their meanings are identical. You also have to sort out the issue of who has the authority to determine the immoral and unjust nature of a law and how it is done, like what is the standard to which you appeal, whether it is objective or subjective and how you know. You also have to distinguish between concepts of law like 'natural law' and the law of juridical systems. You then have to defend your view from attack from every other philosophical school of thought over the last 3000 years. You are now at 400 pages of densely written unreadable prose, published by OUP at £110.
It's not an accident that most philosophical texts are dull and inconclusive.
FIFA's official Azteca forecast: 90% risk of lightning storms around kick-off. Under FIFA protocol, lightning within 6 miles = no kick-off until a 30-minute lightning-free window.
Late night ahead....
Maybe BBC2’s 7.10am programme will be showing the match live!
FIFA's official Azteca forecast: 90% risk of lightning storms around kick-off. Under FIFA protocol, lightning within 6 miles = no kick-off until a 30-minute lightning-free window.
Late night ahead....
Maybe BBC2’s 7.10am programme will be showing the match live!
The risk of delays beyond a 1 am start is the main reason I will probably not stay up. That and no expectation of victory.
My plan is quite simple: - Go to bed at 10pm for 3 hours - Check phone to see if match starting, or else go back to sleep - Repeat every hour - Watch match - Somehow survive work the next day
2 ways I plan to get through this:
1) It's July, so it's my month off:
2) Not worry about some football match in the first place.
Burnham is certainly already looking at wealth taxes which don't come in the no income or NI tax rises pledge in the Labour manifesto. He would certainly like to increase the additional rate of income tax back up to 50% but may need a Labour manifesto commitment and general election win for that.
''Andy Burnham is set to launch a financial raid on swathes of middle–class homeowners by dragging them into the punitive 'mansion tax' regime, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
Plans to lower the threshold for the extra levy to include homes worth £1.5million would mean more than 150,000 families – particularly in the South of England – being hit with four–figure tax hikes.
It could prove a double whammy for homeowners in the region, as Mr Burnham is also considering replacing council tax with a system based on land values likely to leave people living in the South paying up to three times as much as those in the North, where property is generally cheaper.Sources told this newspaper that Mr Burnham is considering lowering the threshold for Chancellor Rachel Reeves's so–called mansion tax – due to hit in April 2028 – from £2 million to £1.5 million.
In parts of London, a relatively modest four–bedroomed terraced house would fall above that threshold.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch attacked the plans as another example of Labour's 'politics of envy'.
It comes as the prime minister–in–waiting faces increasing pressure from backbenchers and unions to levy 'wealth taxes' on the middle classes to cover the spiralling cost of welfare and public services.'
Andy Burnham has both been supremely entitled about his journey to power, and entirely unwilling to open himself up to scrutiny.
He said in his speech last week that his overarching political direction is "not up for negotiation", and then refused to take any questions from journalists.
We are now 2 weeks away from having a PM imposed on us who has no mandate, no clear policies, no clear cabinet, no challengers, and has allowed no questions, but will claim his vision is law and won't call an election. His response to anyone who criticises him is to be cold-shouldered or quietly threatened by 'friends of' or 'sources close to Andy Burnham'. Briefings I haven't seen since the Brown years.
That's not the behaviour of a democrat, nor of someone who's not going to come unstuck very quickly.
I do not know if Burnham will be very good, but almost the whole of this diatribe is distorted, irrelevant or untrue.
A couple of real facts:
Government is led by the person who has the confidence of 325+ members of the House. How they fix that, as long as it is not corrupt, is a matter for the 650 people we elected for a 5 year term. No-one can impose on 325 MPs.
No mandate is required. We don't elect mandated delegates, we elect accountable representatives.
No-one can become Labour leader, and thus PM in this case, without an open nomination process in which up to about five candidates are possible. If there were only one candidate, that tells you something about the opinions of 400 elected Labour MPs.
You produce no evidence that he uses threats, and I won't accept it without it.
You're a traitor.
Even if I were, and I am not, the argument is still ad hominem.
You insulted me and then questioned my integrity.
You're lucky I didn't compare you to William Joyce.
Convicted non criminal: Malkinson Unconvicted criminal: Loads of them. Some in extremely high places. I am sure each reader can supply a name or names, but please don't offer them here. The London firms of solicitors who only do privately paid criminal work have a living to make, but not, I suggest, from suing PB.
Tbh I'd lazily assumed Stone had already been cleared after it became fashionable to blame Levi Bellfield, although Bellfield refutes these allegations.
If Stone is innocent he should obviously be released, but would say that he's a very nasty individual, so I'm not exactly losing sleep over his potential miscarriage of justice.
Convicted non criminal: Malkinson Unconvicted criminal: Loads of them. Some in extremely high places. I am sure each reader can supply a name or names, but please don't offer them here. The London firms of solicitors who only do privately paid criminal work have a living to make, but not, I suggest, from suing PB.
Tbh I'd lazily assumed Stone had already been cleared after it became fashionable to blame Levi Bellfield, although Bellfield refutes these allegations.
IIRC Stone has been tried twice, the second time after a successful appeal, and convicted twice, the second followed by an unsuccessful appeal. The case has always looked thin. He did not give evidence on his own behalf in either of the trials.
EasyJet has reached an agreement in principle with a US investment firm over a potential takeover offer worth around £5.2 billion.
The low-cost Luton-based airline had previously rejected four takeover offers from Castlelake, which owns a stake of about 2.14% in EasyJet through the funds it manages.
Convicted non criminal: Malkinson Unconvicted criminal: Loads of them. Some in extremely high places. I am sure each reader can supply a name or names, but please don't offer them here. The London firms of solicitors who only do privately paid criminal work have a living to make, but not, I suggest, from suing PB.
Tbh I'd lazily assumed Stone had already been cleared after it became fashionable to blame Levi Bellfield, although Bellfield refutes these allegations.
If Stone is innocent he should obviously be released, but would say that he's a very nasty individual, so I'm not exactly losing sleep over his potential miscarriage of justice.
That's the thing about miscarriages of justice: they often involve unsavoury customers.
But as we saw with Lady Donaldson you can be an unconvicted criminal.
Former DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has been found guilty of 18 child sex abuse charges, including one count of rape.
A trial of the facts is an option that is open to prosecutors if a court determines that a person is unfit to stand trial and criminal proceedings cannot go ahead.
It takes the place of a criminal trial and is used to determine whether an accused committed the acts alleged.
It cannot result in a conviction, but if the court is not satisfied that the accused committed the acts alleged, then he/she will be acquitted.
The procedure is allowed for in legislation by Article 49A of the Mental Health (Northern Ireland) Order 1986.
The mechanism is not used often but one high-profile example was in the trial of former IRA leader Ivor Bell in 2019.
Surely if you commit a crime, you are by definition a criminal, regardless of whether on not you are convicted?
The point about being a convicted criminal is that you can reliably be treated as one by the public at large, because your crimes were (hopefully) proven in court.
Philosophically if you break a law which is immoral and unjust doesn’t that make you a law-breaker not a criminal?
Philosophically you would have to ensure that the concepts underlying your words are first of all clarified so that it is possible to draw a distinction between a law-breaker and a criminal, as it is perfectly sane to assume their meanings are identical. You also have to sort out the issue of who has the authority to determine the immoral and unjust nature of a law and how it is done, like what is the standard to which you appeal, whether it is objective or subjective and how you know. You also have to distinguish between concepts of law like 'natural law' and the law of juridical systems. You then have to defend your view from attack from every other philosophical school of thought over the last 3000 years. You are now at 400 pages of densely written unreadable prose, published by OUP at £110.
It's not an accident that most philosophical texts are dull and inconclusive.
Nah, none of the above.
At its bare bones the argument I am making is that crime is determined by natural justice not by the law.
Burnham is certainly already looking at wealth taxes which don't come in the no income or NI tax rises pledge in the Labour manifesto. He would certainly like to increase the additional rate of income tax back up to 50% but may need a Labour manifesto commitment and general election win for that.
''Andy Burnham is set to launch a financial raid on swathes of middle–class homeowners by dragging them into the punitive 'mansion tax' regime, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
Plans to lower the threshold for the extra levy to include homes worth £1.5million would mean more than 150,000 families – particularly in the South of England – being hit with four–figure tax hikes.
It could prove a double whammy for homeowners in the region, as Mr Burnham is also considering replacing council tax with a system based on land values likely to leave people living in the South paying up to three times as much as those in the North, where property is generally cheaper.Sources told this newspaper that Mr Burnham is considering lowering the threshold for Chancellor Rachel Reeves's so–called mansion tax – due to hit in April 2028 – from £2 million to £1.5 million.
In parts of London, a relatively modest four–bedroomed terraced house would fall above that threshold.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch attacked the plans as another example of Labour's 'politics of envy'.
It comes as the prime minister–in–waiting faces increasing pressure from backbenchers and unions to levy 'wealth taxes' on the middle classes to cover the spiralling cost of welfare and public services.'
Obviously nothing about cracking down on freeloaders and parasites or encouraging self-reliance.
Just screwing the hard-working and enterprising even more and wasting the proceeds.
As the Wall Street Journal once said, "Goodbye, Great Britain, it was nice knowing you".
What would your "cracking down on freeloaders and parasites" consist of? How would it work?
Please do explain, I am sure we'd all love to hear.
Again another person using "we" would love to hear. There is no "we" on PB or shouldn't be. This idea emanating from 'progressives' on here is just another load of bollocks used to put down anyone with other views. "We'd all love to know who exactly these "we" are.
Fair cop. I did preface it with "I'm sure" which as 'we' all know means, "I think it possible".
However, I fully retract and hereby recognise that some on PB have no interest whatsoever in Fishing or anyone else having to give any detail to support his frankly populist war-cry about "cracking down on freeloaders and parasites".
I for one though would like to understand what that might actually mean and how it might be achieved, and there may be other PBers who are also interest.
It is a valid question and at some point I might write a thread about it. Off the top of my rapidly balding head, it might involve measures such as:
- reducing the number of incapacity claimants to what it was in 2018 (from 4.1m to 2.9m) - ensuring that, as in Holland, each such claimant has a plan to get back into work and stick to it unless they are completely incurable - ending benefits for vague and unprovable conditions such as ADHD or stress - making public sector pension terms and conditions equal to those in the private sector - much stricter limits on the amount of time people can spend on various benefits - ending the triple lock - tying qualification for the state pension to inability to work rather than age - ending support for regions and towns that can't support themselves
I'm sure others can add ideas, but those are the ones that spring to mind.
Convicted non criminal: Malkinson Unconvicted criminal: Loads of them. Some in extremely high places. I am sure each reader can supply a name or names, but please don't offer them here. The London firms of solicitors who only do privately paid criminal work have a living to make, but not, I suggest, from suing PB.
Tbh I'd lazily assumed Stone had already been cleared after it became fashionable to blame Levi Bellfield, although Bellfield refutes these allegations.
If Stone is innocent he should obviously be released, but would say that he's a very nasty individual, so I'm not exactly losing sleep over his potential miscarriage of justice.
That's the thing about miscarriages of justice: they often involve unsavoury customers.
Here's an example from last year, attracting little attention.
1am really isn't ideal. I'll be there, I have to be, but I won't be performing at my usual elite level.
But what about the altitude...
I hope everyone has been sleeping in their altitude tent in preparation.
[I wonder if England have been doing this already, but aren't saying so publicly]
I was OK at 3500m without much acclimatising but Mrs Flatlander flaked at about 3200m. The reaction to altitude is apparently down to genetics to quite a large degree.
Walking steadily uphill for a few hours is a bit different to sprinting to close someone down every few minutes, though...
1am really isn't ideal. I'll be there, I have to be, but I won't be performing at my usual elite level.
But what about the altitude...
I hope everyone has been sleeping in their altitude tent in preparation.
[I wonder if England have been doing this already, but aren't saying so publically]
I have actually been at even higher altitude than Mexico City for 2 weeks in preparation....
Obviously I am not an elite athelete etc, but it is a weird experience when you do strenous exercise. Its when you get out of breath you find yourself grasping for air in a weird way that can take an uncomfortable amount of time to recover from.
Genuine interest - has anyone seen an anti-wheelchair barrier like this one *? It is one of the most unusual beasts in the local barrier zoo. It was built in about 1975 to stop rat-runners on a route close to me, out of the kind of concrete blocks used at the time to keep vehicles from overrunning roundabouts. I recall being driven to infant school down here, and cycling the unmade road on my RSW14 before 1976.
It is a public footpath so this is an unlawful obstruction, and the width blocks most mobility aids and some pushchairs. On one side is a popular local pub, and on the is a Coop mini-supermarket, so movement matters and there is no easy alternative.
I can force it to be removed, but it needs consideration. That gate is to 10 acres of allotments, and they take their wheelbarrows through with planks on sideways and do not want bollards for that reason. I'll probably suggest replacing that gate on the left with 3 locking bollards at 1.5m spacing.
* I only seen these in 2 places - out here, and in the Lenton area of Nottingham to make an LTN in the late 1970s. It looks like onme designer who moved jobs. You can drive over them (I tried in ~1987 for interest), but I would not do it in a car with modern tyres. My Polo Mark 1 could do it with a lightly held wheel as in heavy snow at about 1mph. https://maps.app.goo.gl/PSSJgk7nYMDRkbTA9
Looks like I could get my electric scooter through. It'd be difficult, though. I couldn't manage it with my 'walking wheels'.
I can't measure it on Google, as it is under a tree. It is very narrow, but I'll stroll that way and measure it.
What are walking wheels - do you mean a rollator, or a Dandy Horse type thing where you sit on it and move it with your feet? Google's first responses to me are wheeled half-trolleys for 3-legged dogs !
One issue they get there is cars parked right up against it (the parking across are actually across the public footpath which continues straight on - https://maps.app.goo.gl/p6jR6UmvKMSinks18 ), but that needs a different type of management.
Ok - back from walk. It is 750mm wide between kerbs, over a length of about 5m. Clearly anyone falls on those concrete lorry blocks is in trouble, as may be the Council responsible for it.
Talking of pathways.
A local chap in Chiswick is furious about pavement obstructions - and furious about plans to remove trees that have grown to occupy 70% (in places) of the width of the pavement.
In some places, you practically have to turn sideways to get past the gap left between garden walls/hedges and the trees.
Utterly impassable to wheelchairs, prams, or people with walkers.
The vehemence of his ignoring physics is remarkable.
Do you have a location? I recall overgrown trees and undergrowth on Fauconberg Road, but they were in a wide pavement, on the way to the Margarita Bar. (My auto-typo keyboard almost asked you for a lotion !). I used to live on Park Road in Grove Park.
There are several important points here - how come pavements are destroyed by tree roots, and carriageways are not? Why is it OK to defend functionally blocking footways?
As ever the standard "context reveal " question is what would the reaction be were it 2m out in the carriageway?
The usual practical solution perhaps in buildouts where the trees are, if the trees are valued, usually losing a couple of on-street parking spaces. Or sometimes something more ambitious.
People seem to get very furious in Chiswick these days.
Really. Labour about to "lurch to the left", and yet the Tories can't benefit from centrists having a nosebleed.
A very daft point.
Nobody answering this poll thinks there is going to be a 'lurch to the left' - we don't know that there will be. This is a standard new leader bounce (or more accurately an unpopular leader leaving bounce) - drawn equally from all the other main parties.
From all the news reports and his own statements we know Burnham will increase tax on property, capital gains etc and won't make any welfare cuts. His premiership will almost certainly be a shift even further left than Starmer is and the biggest losers in most polls from that are the Greens.
The Ipsos poll is one still with Starmer as PM
You are an avid politics follower and you are drawing fairly high level inferences. All the wider public will really have absorbed is that Starmer is going, and a nice guy who seems to have done a good job being Mayor of Manchester is replacing him. Even we don't actually know that Burnham will pull the party leftward. He doesn't have to do that, given that he has skipped election by the Labour Party rank and file and his first electoral test will be the next General Election.
The point is that there is no way on earth that Kemi could reasonably expect to be a beneficiary of Burnham's leftward march at this stage. Let's see what happens after the first budget.
That's a fair summary I think. I'm not sure that Burnham has the political time to do something like an LV Tax, but I think he'll do something with Council Tax tied in with devolution. With the expansion of Regional and City Mayors, there will not be a better opportunity for a generation.
There are a lot of possible unintended consequences, so he needs to be very careful.
1am really isn't ideal. I'll be there, I have to be, but I won't be performing at my usual elite level.
You've got to hold and give But do it at the right time You can be slow or fast But you must get to the line They'll always hit you and hurt you Defend and attack There's only one way to beat them Get round the back
Catch me if you can Cos' I'm the England man And what you're looking at Is the master plan We ain't no hooligans This ain't a football song Three lions on my chest I know we can't go wrong
Reform's Mayoral candidate Sian Astley was featured on an old episode of Property Ladder, which charts her rise from first-time solo renovator to BTL empress. She's a quarrelsome customer, frequently disagreeing with Sarah Beeney, but ultimately emerges as a successful risk-taker.
I am glad Reform didn't waste her on Makerfield. I don't think she'll win the Manchester Mayoralty, but I do think she is probably the best candidate Reform could have selected.
Building up a BTL empire in a time of low interest rates and rising prices doesn't shout 'risk-taking entrepreneur creating value for themselves and the wider community'.
Although tbf it does indicate a good head for money and an ability to organise and negotiate.
She got lucky on her first one because the market rose considerably. But the rest took some balls. I think actually Manchester would be quite well advised to vote for her. An entrepreneurial Mayor like Houchen. Only so far implementing a bus service can take you. But as I've said, I don't think the electoral maths stack up for Reform in Manchester.
Doesn't it take you all the way to Downing St?
But no, not for me. BTL isn't the sort of business I gaze at with admiration and approval etched across my face. In fact if you look carefully you might be able to detect the hint of a scowl.
I know Luckyguy1983 and I come from very different perspectives, but I'm really struggling to see how being a "BTL Empress" is a net positive for a political candidate from any party. By housing tenure Reform voters are primarily council tenants and outright owners, so I guess they aren't exposed to the horrors of the private rental market in the same way Labour and Green voters are.
At best it's neutral - it turns out she's benevolent and tolerant. At worst... well Reform's vetting hasn't been brilliant so far, has it? And they very much against the Renters' Rights Act, despite 4:1 support across the public.
Burnham is certainly already looking at wealth taxes which don't come in the no income or NI tax rises pledge in the Labour manifesto. He would certainly like to increase the additional rate of income tax back up to 50% but may need a Labour manifesto commitment and general election win for that.
''Andy Burnham is set to launch a financial raid on swathes of middle–class homeowners by dragging them into the punitive 'mansion tax' regime, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
Plans to lower the threshold for the extra levy to include homes worth £1.5million would mean more than 150,000 families – particularly in the South of England – being hit with four–figure tax hikes.
It could prove a double whammy for homeowners in the region, as Mr Burnham is also considering replacing council tax with a system based on land values likely to leave people living in the South paying up to three times as much as those in the North, where property is generally cheaper.Sources told this newspaper that Mr Burnham is considering lowering the threshold for Chancellor Rachel Reeves's so–called mansion tax – due to hit in April 2028 – from £2 million to £1.5 million.
In parts of London, a relatively modest four–bedroomed terraced house would fall above that threshold.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch attacked the plans as another example of Labour's 'politics of envy'.
It comes as the prime minister–in–waiting faces increasing pressure from backbenchers and unions to levy 'wealth taxes' on the middle classes to cover the spiralling cost of welfare and public services.'
Obviously nothing about cracking down on freeloaders and parasites or encouraging self-reliance.
Just screwing the hard-working and enterprising even more and wasting the proceeds.
As the Wall Street Journal once said, "Goodbye, Great Britain, it was nice knowing you".
What would your "cracking down on freeloaders and parasites" consist of? How would it work?
Please do explain, I am sure we'd all love to hear.
Again another person using "we" would love to hear. There is no "we" on PB or shouldn't be. This idea emanating from 'progressives' on here is just another load of bollocks used to put down anyone with other views. "We'd all love to know who exactly these "we" are.
Fair cop. I did preface it with "I'm sure" which as 'we' all know means, "I think it possible".
However, I fully retract and hereby recognise that some on PB have no interest whatsoever in Fishing or anyone else having to give any detail to support his frankly populist war-cry about "cracking down on freeloaders and parasites".
I for one though would like to understand what that might actually mean and how it might be achieved, and there may be other PBers who are also interest.
It is a valid question and at some point I might write a thread about it. Off the top of my rapidly balding head, it might involve measures such as:
1 - reducing the number of incapacity claimants to what it was in 2018 (from 4.1m to 2.9m) 2 - ensuring that, as in Holland, each such claimant has a plan to get back into work and stick to it unless they are completely incurable 3 - ending benefits for vague and unprovable conditions such as ADHD or stress 4 - making public sector pension terms and conditions equal to those in the private sector 5 - much stricter limits on the amount of time people can spend on various benefits 6 - ending the triple lock 7 - tying qualification for the state pension to inability to work rather than age 8 - ending support for regions and towns that can't support themselves
I'm sure others can add ideas, but those are the ones that spring to mind.
A few comments in response, I've taken the liberty of numbering your thoughts for clarity.
1 - You could only do that by reframing (and tightening) the criteria. Fine in principle but very difficult politically. Even the DM will be coming out with headlines like "Burnham steals money from disabled people", "Disability Tax" and the like. Not saying the criteria shouldn't be tightened but it's hard.
2 - Your numbers for 1 indicate you are talking about PIP claimants. For the umpteenth time PIP has nothing to do with work. As a paraplegic, I received PIP and worked all my life. PIP is to cover the additional costs of disability and help people live as independently as possible.
3 - I'd support tightening the criteria but there is no entitlement for particular conditions, it's all about the impact the condition has on the individual. So one person with ADHD may be awarded PIP another not. It's a very tough subjective call for the assessors or tribunals in the case of appeals. If the criteria can be tightened and clarified then fine but just saying no PIP awards for this condition is far too simplistic.
4 - My private sector pension is much better than my friends' public sector pension so again this is simplistic. Public sector pensions can be made less attractive but you'd have to pay more to attract staff.
5 - How would that work? Once you've been on UC for 20 years due to say severe learning difficulties, if you haven't suddenly improved you can starve? Challenges and reviews after several years for conditions that might improve are already in place.
6 - Agreed. But watch the DM and Telegraph have a meltdown though. Also a guaranteed GE loser so tricky for any government.
7 - Really that's a non-starter. You can't tell people all their working lives they have a state pension coming based on the taxes (NI) they pay and then change the rules to say but your too fit to receive it.
8 - Would lead to the ghettoisation of large parts of Britain imo.
Sorry to be a bit negative but I do think some of the things on your list should be pursued. And appreciate you putting some meat on your initial thought.
I do though wish you wouldn't use "freeloaders and parasites" to describe people, the vast majority of whom are nothing more than deeply unfortunate. Then again some of your savings ideas are directed at pensioners; are pensioners 'freeloaders and parasites'?
(((Dan Hodges))) @DPJHodges · 58m Even by the standards of what we’ve come to expect from Trump and Infantino, this is staggering. Quote Square profile picture The White House @WhiteHouse · 2h USA-USA-USA 🦅 x.com/espn/status/20… Image
John Gustavsson, PhD @JGustavssonPhD I am worried this may stain FIFA's otherwise stellar reputation of honesty and fair conduct.
Comments
The point about being a convicted criminal is that you can reliably be treated as one by the public at large, because your crimes were (hopefully) proven in court.
The downside is that you'll massively raise the humidity, and as the water condenses out again the heat will be returned to the air.
The net effect would be terrible, but but you could have a device which did chuck out a load of cold but very humid air via this process.
Isn't that kind of what ground source heat pumps do?
https://keirstarmer.substack.com/p/passing-on-the-torch
I really wish UEFA could tell FIFA to FO and refuse to enter the World Cup from now on. They could make it financially worthwhile for South America to join their tournaments and pull the rug from under FIFa who need to be shown that it’s not “their game” to ruin.
Mugs
It’s the fault of each investor
https://x.com/AdamCrafton_/status/2073805425246454175?s=20
Somebody get a new Rolex?
https://x.com/AdamCrafton_/status/2073805425246454175?s=20
Somebody get a new Rolex?
Unconvicted criminal: Loads of them. Some in extremely high places. I am sure each reader can supply a name or names, but please don't offer them here. The London firms of solicitors who only do privately paid criminal work have a living to make, but not, I suggest, from suing PB.
But no, not for me. BTL isn't the sort of business I gaze at with admiration and approval etched across my face. In fact if you look carefully you might be able to detect the hint of a scowl.
Cottrell was raised and educated on the private island of Mustique, before attending Malvern College, from which he was expelled for illegal gambling.
Here's a picture of their home: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bush_Childhood_Home-Front-August_2013.JPG
Late night ahead....
The court battle over £1billion and how Manchester missed out on affordable housing
It could have major implications for Andy Burnham's office and Manchester's biggest developer
It’s a simple fact that Renaker has shaped Manchester’s skyline.
Great Jackson Street, next to Mancunian Way, is home to seven Renaker-built skyscrapers, and five more have planning permission. Four more are eyed for Trinity Islands, next to Regent Road.
But how Renaker managed to shape the city is now subject to an ongoing legal battle.
Andy Burnham has been accused of loaning hundreds of millions of pounds to the developer amid claims his office holds a 'cosy relationship' with its owner, Daren Whitaker.
His firm has received £615m from the Greater Manchester Housing Investment Loans Fund (GMHILF). That's around half of the total lending from the fund set up in 2015 to finance housing projects.
Aubery Weis, a rival property mogul who owns land next to Renaker's tallest towers, is now suing Mr Burnham's office over two loans worth £120m, claiming the interest rates agreed were too low, creating an 'unlevel playing field'.
https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/court-battle-over-1billion-how-31792697
Can someone flag this post please so the mods can judge its libel potential?
Russian hackers have infiltrated the email accounts of UK government officials and overseas Foreign Office staff in a major national security breach. In the sophisticated and ongoing attack – nicknamed FortiBleed by researchers – hackers stole login credentials belonging to government staff, granting unauthorised access to sensitive systems and threatening further infiltration across Whitehall departments.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/07/05/russian-hackers-steal-government-logins/
An investigator from the miscarriage of justice watchdog will this week take a new sample from the man jailed for the 1996 killings
https://www.thetimes.com/uk/crime/article/dna-michael-stone-murder-lin-megan-russell-50t7gp6bp (£££)
Tbh I'd lazily assumed Stone had already been cleared after it became fashionable to blame Levi Bellfield, although Bellfield refutes these allegations.
You're lucky I didn't compare you to William Joyce.
- Go to bed at 10pm for 3 hours
- Check phone to see if match starting, or else go back to sleep
- Repeat every hour
- Watch match
- Somehow survive work the next day
It's not an accident that most philosophical texts are dull and inconclusive.
1) It's July, so it's my month off:
2) Not worry about some football match in the first place.
https://x.com/JacobsBen/status/2073823947682980076?s=20
The White House made a direct call to FIFA to ask Gianni Infantino to review Folarin Balogun’s red card.
https://x.com/JacobsBen/status/2073823947682980076?s=20
Ron DeSantis
@RonDeSantis
And if it wasn’t for America the insignia on the pub would be written in German.
Quote:
No Context Brits
@NoContextBrits
America is 250 years old.
This pub is 1,466 years old.
https://x.com/RonDeSantis/status/2073790093983441215
text of second appeal:
https://www.michaelstone.co.uk/stone/appeal-19th-January-2005.html
The low-cost Luton-based airline had previously rejected four takeover offers from Castlelake, which owns a stake of about 2.14% in EasyJet through the funds it manages.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgjxx7ngz51o
FIFA are a cesspit of corruption .
At its bare bones the argument I am making is that crime is determined by natural justice not by the law.
That’s just Natural Law vs Legal Positivism.
Asking for a friend.
- reducing the number of incapacity claimants to what it was in 2018 (from 4.1m to 2.9m)
- ensuring that, as in Holland, each such claimant has a plan to get back into work and stick to it unless they are completely incurable
- ending benefits for vague and unprovable conditions such as ADHD or stress
- making public sector pension terms and conditions equal to those in the private sector
- much stricter limits on the amount of time people can spend on various benefits
- ending the triple lock
- tying qualification for the state pension to inability to work rather than age
- ending support for regions and towns that can't support themselves
I'm sure others can add ideas, but those are the ones that spring to mind.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/jul/30/justin-plummer-appeal-court-quashes-janice-cartwright-gilbert#:~:text=Court quashes conviction of man twice found guilty of Bedfordshire murder,-This article is&text=The court of appeal has,always claimed he was innocent.
or if you want 44 pages of it:
https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/R-v-Plummer-for-hand-down-final.pdf
[I wonder if England have been doing this already, but aren't saying so publicly]
I was OK at 3500m without much acclimatising but Mrs Flatlander flaked at about 3200m. The reaction to altitude is apparently down to genetics to quite a large degree.
Walking steadily uphill for a few hours is a bit different to sprinting to close someone down every few minutes, though...
Obviously I am not an elite athelete etc, but it is a weird experience when you do strenous exercise. Its when you get out of breath you find yourself grasping for air in a weird way that can take an uncomfortable amount of time to recover from.
There are several important points here - how come pavements are destroyed by tree roots, and carriageways are not? Why is it OK to defend functionally blocking footways?
As ever the standard "context reveal " question is what would the reaction be were it 2m out in the carriageway?
The usual practical solution perhaps in buildouts where the trees are, if the trees are valued, usually losing a couple of on-street parking spaces. Or sometimes something more ambitious.
People seem to get very furious in Chiswick these days.
https://x.com/Number10cat/status/2073833245708296629?s=20
There are a lot of possible unintended consequences, so he needs to be very careful.
Apparently taking a blue pill also helps with altitude but that might lead to distractions...
https://x.com/HS2ltd/status/2073799199003451839
But do it at the right time
You can be slow or fast
But you must get to the line
They'll always hit you and hurt you
Defend and attack
There's only one way to beat them
Get round the back
Catch me if you can
Cos' I'm the England man
And what you're looking at
Is the master plan
We ain't no hooligans
This ain't a football song
Three lions on my chest
I know we can't go wrong
At best it's neutral - it turns out she's benevolent and tolerant. At worst... well Reform's vetting hasn't been brilliant so far, has it? And they very much against the Renters' Rights Act, despite 4:1 support across the public.
I think the whole project needs to put on hold while we look again at the issue.
(((Dan Hodges)))
@DPJHodges
Even by the standards of what we’ve come to expect from Trump and Infantino, this is staggering.
https://x.com/DPJHodges/status/2073840183707901962
A few comments in response, I've taken the liberty of numbering your thoughts for clarity.
1 - You could only do that by reframing (and tightening) the criteria. Fine in principle but very difficult politically. Even the DM will be coming out with headlines like "Burnham steals money from disabled people", "Disability Tax" and the like. Not saying the criteria shouldn't be tightened but it's hard.
2 - Your numbers for 1 indicate you are talking about PIP claimants. For the umpteenth time PIP has nothing to do with work. As a paraplegic, I received PIP and worked all my life. PIP is to cover the additional costs of disability and help people live as independently as possible.
3 - I'd support tightening the criteria but there is no entitlement for particular conditions, it's all about the impact the condition has on the individual. So one person with ADHD may be awarded PIP another not. It's a very tough subjective call for the assessors or tribunals in the case of appeals. If the criteria can be tightened and clarified then fine but just saying no PIP awards for this condition is far too simplistic.
4 - My private sector pension is much better than my friends' public sector pension so again this is simplistic. Public sector pensions can be made less attractive but you'd have to pay more to attract staff.
5 - How would that work? Once you've been on UC for 20 years due to say severe learning difficulties, if you haven't suddenly improved you can starve? Challenges and reviews after several years for conditions that might improve are already in place.
6 - Agreed. But watch the DM and Telegraph have a meltdown though. Also a guaranteed GE loser so tricky for any government.
7 - Really that's a non-starter. You can't tell people all their working lives they have a state pension coming based on the taxes (NI) they pay and then change the rules to say but your too fit to receive it.
8 - Would lead to the ghettoisation of large parts of Britain imo.
Sorry to be a bit negative but I do think some of the things on your list should be pursued. And appreciate you putting some meat on your initial thought.
I do though wish you wouldn't use "freeloaders and parasites" to describe people, the vast majority of whom are nothing more than deeply unfortunate. Then again some of your savings ideas are directed at pensioners; are pensioners 'freeloaders and parasites'?
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(((Dan Hodges)))
@DPJHodges
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Even by the standards of what we’ve come to expect from Trump and Infantino, this is staggering.
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The White House
@WhiteHouse
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2h
USA-USA-USA 🦅 x.com/espn/status/20…
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John Gustavsson, PhD
@JGustavssonPhD
I am worried this may stain FIFA's otherwise stellar reputation of honesty and fair conduct.
https://x.com/JGustavssonPhD/status/2073840889202356603